Almost as quiet as my shotgun this season lol. Anybody having any luck? Things have been super slow around my area this month. The last of the wood ducks got pushed off about three weeks ago. I thought the last cold front might send some birds through but no luck. I drove around for a couple hours this morning scouting and the only birds I saw were a couple of buffleheads on a retention pond beside our local walmart when i went to town for breakfast.

El nino years are always rough. That and I don't believe the USFWS counts are anywhere close to accurate. Just wait until a real good drought hits the prairie pothole region. We are back on the path to 30 days and 3 bird limits and one or two years of drought in the prairie is all it will take to get us over the threshold. Personally, I cant wait for it but if you think it's quiet now.....

Here in Korea, its a waterfowler’s paradise. Many of the Asian species of birds stop here on their way from Siberia and China on their way south. Right now, I am seeing tons of egrets, geese, ducks, and cranes in the skies above. My installation has a lot of wetlands that are both outside and inside of the fence, so we can see many species every day.

I never thought of el Nino and I havent been hunting long enough to know a 30 day 3 bird season. I heard somewhere that the limit on mallards will be going down this year. I have tomorrow off so I guess ill be out in my swamp. Maybe ill get lucky and see a couple birds. Good luck to anyone else going out.

El nino years are always the toughest years. Tons of rain leaves the river bottoms swollen and swamps overflowing and lots of water means lots of places for ducks to spread out to. The above average temperatures and most importantly, no snow across the nothern latitudes means the birds only have to travel so far south. I remember people the 2003-04 season and it was about as bad as this year and it was also the last really bad el nino year that I can remember. On top of all that, there is going to be late spring thaws again from the prairies of Canada to the arctic ocean. Everyone expects banner hatches this summer and huge numbers and I feel that they are in for a ride awakening come October/November this year. If anyone was planning a Conservation Season snow goose hunt in the next couple years, my suggestion is hold off for another year or two, unless you are just a die-hard goose hunter. Even more so if you are trying to hunt them on the east coast.

There aren't many people hunting now, that hunted during the 30 day and 3 bird season and even fewer that remember when the birds were worth points. The mallard limit will be dropping (only in the Atlantic Flyway) to two and only one hen for the upcoming season and the Atlantic Population zones will drop from two geese to one. There is also a proposal to lower the late segment of the season from 45 days to 30 days.

The USFWS hasnt released the mid-continent bird counts even though they were completed. The only reason I can see is that the numbers aren't anywhere near what they claim and have been decreasing for years now. My father remembers when they said there were 10 million ducks throughout the continent. He says there were ducks in every ditch and backwater and even saw them in swimming pools. Where'd they all go? Same thing with geese. There is no way that there are 12 million snow geese. They claim the waterfowl population is just increasing, I call BS on them.